Great, another PowerPoint presentation. You're not the only one who finds PowerPoint presentations boring. It is extremely difficult to create a presentation that is engaging, interesting and informative to your audience, especially creating a presentation to give over a conference call.

When I was in college I loved presentation days because the lights were off and the professor couldn't see me. So, you guessed it, I was sleeping in the back of the room, and Im sure you did the same. Unfortunately, now you cant do that because the information is too important to miss, although the slides at times are worse than they were in college.

After researching this topic for a bit I've compiled some tips for you to keep your audience engaged and awake.

Do NOT read right off of your slides.

Please don't do this. At this point in our lives we are all capable of reading for ourselves, so don't read whats on your slides word for word. Only put key phrases on your slides that you'll be able to go into more detail on.

Keep it simple.

Every slide in your presentation should consist of a max of 5 lines/ bullets. Use easy to read and understandable charts, and use images/ graphics that reflect and support what you are discussing.

Never restrict yourself to what PowerPoint offers.

You can go outside the PowerPoint Box. Bring in your own graphics/ images or upload a video of yours you can show.

Slide Designs.

As a designer this is a huge one for me. I have seen all types of slides that make me want to go blind. When you begin designing your presentation make sure you choose one layout style and keep it consistent throughout. Also make sure you keep your color schemes, and typeface and size consistent. And now for the part that really bothers me. If you have a low res image, PLEASE DO NOT enlarge it and make it a whole slide. It is going to be extremely blurry and impossible to make out.

Double check your work.

Always double check your work and make sure all of the slides are in the correct order. If there are videos or links within the presentation make sure they work. Also put yourself in your audiences seat, if the information isn't detailed enough or if something is confusing add to it or take it out. Last but not least check for TYPOS! There is nothing more distracting on a slide than a typo. It really does stick out like a sore thumb. So make sure you read through every slide multiple times.

Hopefully these tips will help you improve your future presentations. If you have anything to add that I might have missed please leave me a comment as I might have missed it while I slept through that presentation.